We as humans always try to make life easier. We have a tendency to over analyze the little things to come up with ways to prevent complications in the future. After several hours of deep thought, your brain over analyzes life. It grabs a bowl of Over Thinkos with extra What-Ifs. The minor inconvenience becomes an overwhelming situation that you can’t stop thinking about.

The past can definitely hurt. You can run from it or learn from it. Everybody wants to be happy and nobody wants to feel heartache. However, you have to remember you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain. We build on failure. We have to use it as a stepping stone. You can close the door on the past but don't try to forget the experience. Don't let the past have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. Don’t disappear or dwell on the areas that are not in focus. Stop getting distracted by things that have nothing to do with your goals. Trade nights out for knowledge seeking. Trade parties for intimate gatherings. Trade chasing money for chasing purpose. Trade meaningless work for your passion. Trade being busy for protecting your time. Trade soul extortion for soul searching. Trade living for others for living your own life.

Let’s take this image and view it as something more. The light colors signify the times where we are at our best, and the dark colors signify the times where we are at our worst. Now look closely at the edges of the image; they are out of focus. Those edges are the times where we feel lost because the path isn’t clear. The center of the image is clear as day, showing every imperfection of the concrete. Each groove found its way to the other side regardless of the obstacle. I honestly don’t know if this makes sense to anyone other than myself but every picture you take tells a story. To me, this image is a reflection of the life we live. Without the brights, darks, out of focused edges, in focused center and bumps along the way, life means nothing.

I want to look back at an insert from a previous post.

When you wake up every morning, you have two choices: Sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them. Sometimes it feels that life is working against your favor. If you think about it, will always win after death. Unfortunately, that is the way of the world. However, no matter how hard it gets, you must always tell yourself that making it is inevitable. You become stronger because you have to be. You become smarter because you make mistakes. You become happier because of the sadness you encounter. In the end, you become wiser because of what you learned. You don’t always need advice. Sometimes you really need a hand to hold, an ear to listen, and a heart to understand. You have a solid support system. Your support system is there. Use it!

In this world, there is always going to be some type of fire under your ass. Whether it is a fire that is going to motivate or a fire that is going to burn, never forget that life goes on. You either chose to move on and risk it all or live in the past… thinking what could have been. Don’t waste time looking back at what was lost! It was lost for a reason! Life is not meant to be traveled backwards. Dori keeps swimming. Dori is smart. Be like Dori.

Let me give you a different perspective. Now read the quote again before you continue. However, replace the word ‘you’ with ‘I’ and the word ‘your’ with ‘my’ in every instance.

I’ve read this insert almost every day for the last two months and it seems to keep my mind and body in check. If you’re struggling, I hope it can do the same for you. If it doesn’t or you have a different perspective, send me a message. Let’s connect.